A brutal winter storm has dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain up the south-east seaboard of the United States, delivering snowy conditions some cities had not seen in decades.

Ten people were killed and five severely injured when a Texas prison bus carrying 15 people skidded off an icy highway overpass and hit a moving freight train yesterday, officials said.

LIME LEAK

Officials in the US state of Texas are today preparing for Hurricane Dean.

A prisoner in Texas committed suicide this morning in his death-row cell, less than 18 hours before he was scheduled to be executed, a prison official said.